By Mark Wing (contributing author/editor: Orlando Ortega, Tour Director)
Click on the links below to see the other tour activities!
Sadly, Orlando’s mother was gravely ill and he had gone to Lubbock to be with her. Ethan (Orlando and Melody’s son) and Melody would lead and coordinate our tour on Saturday.
After breakfast, the Eastern New Mexico University (ENMU) Administration Building was our first stop. Our tour of the administration building was conducted by Dr. Patrice Caldwell, Executive Director (Planning and Analysis) and an Associate Professor of English. Dr. Caldwell is an expert on the history of the university and the administration building. She gave us a sense of historical and cultural context in which the building was constructed. For instance, the building was approved in 1929, but was delayed due to the Stock Market crash and subsequent Great Depression. The building did break ground in 1931 and in 1934, and although unfinished, opened its doors to students during the Great Depression. When funds became available, the building was completed in 1936. The administration building is of “Collegiate Gothic” style, common to universities and colleges across the U.S., and also possesses beautiful New Deal era art. A 1936 mural, tempera on plaster, titled “The 12th Chapter of Ecclesiastes” by painter Lloyd Molan is located on the 2nd story stairway walls and is remarkable, in part, because of it’s excellent state of preservation for being 70 years old! Although of venerable age, it’s still a decade newer than the cars on the tour! Many thanks to Dr. Caldwell for providing us with such an engaging and informative tour!
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39After the administration building tour, the next stop was Blackwater Draw, an excavation site and former gravel pit managed by ENMU. This archeological site is one of the most significant in North America as it reveals evidence of the earliest occupation of man in the new world dating back 11,600 years. The term “Clovis point” is named for the spear heads found in this area to hunt large game. This site was discovered in the 1920’s at which time bones were visible on the land surface but before the technology existed to properly preserve these fossils. Since then, major institutions including the Carnegie Institute, Smithsonian Institution, Academy of Natural Sciences, National Science Foundation, National Geographic Society, and others have funded research at the Blackwater Draw site.
Our guide was the Director of Blackwater Draw and Chief Archeologist, George Crawford. George gave us an excellent walking tour of the site and explained that the area, although in severe drought conditions now, was once a lush landscape of trees, grasslands, and surface water. The Llano Estacado, as the world’s largest mesa, isn’t subject to volcanos and earthquakes, and the soil chemistry (with a high calcium content) doesn’t leach calcium from bones. Under these conditions, massive numbers of bones of now extinct mammals, such as mammoths, camels, and bison are well preserved. The tour was thought provoking and very informative. We all came away with a new appreciation of the paleontological and archeological significance of the Clovis area. We wish to extend our thanks to George Crawford and his staff (including recent anthropology major graduate Ethan Ortega) for a fantastic visit to their Blackwater Draw site!
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31After Blackwater Draw, we drove to Shogun, a Japanese restaurant, for lunch. In addition to the tasty food, we were treated to the show that is one of the more amusing features of dining at a teppan grill. Everyone had a good laugh and the food was delicious.
Visiting the Norman Petty Studio in Clovis is like stepping back in time as you enter the legendary recording studio that recorded the music of Buddy Holly, Roy Orbison, Waylon Jennings, and the Fireballs, to name a few. Our hosts were Ken and Shirley Broad. Ken is studio manager and the Petty Estate trustee. He was assisted by with other volunteers such as David Bingham (a Buddy Holley backup singer) and Jerry Roberts (who was a teen sensation who recorded at the studio). Norman Petty and his wife, Vi, were talented artists themselves with such hits as “Mood Indigo”, and “Almost Paradise.” Norman was most recognized for his record producing talents and his famous studio. He helped artists produce major hits as “Sugar Shack”, “Bottle of Wine”, Everyday”, “Peggy Sue”, “That’ll Be the Day”, and many others. The studio has been preserved and cared for exactly the way it was in the days of those early Rock and Roll recordings. The original equipment including the microphones and recorders that Buddy Holly and others used are still present. It was a wonderful historic Rock and Roll treat for all!
After the visit to the Norman Petty Studio, some tour members drove back to the Holiday Inn while others went to Clovis’ Main Street that offered some interesting antique stores to peruse. After shopping, everyone returned to the hotel to prepare for dinner in downtown Portales.
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43We enjoyed a nice dinner banquet at the “Vines Italian Restaurant” on Saturday evening. Orlando had provided the Vines with our entree choices in advance to ensure that they had everything they needed for a party that large. Everyone had a grand time and we thanked our hosts Orlando, Melody, and Ethan for an outstanding tour to their hometown. We also assembled for a group photo behind the 19th century bar. After dinner, Orlando gave us a tour around the town hall pointing out statues and monuments conceived and dedicated during his eight year tenure as Portales’ mayor. After Orlando’s tour, some tour members went to the Roosevelt Brewing Company and Public House near the town hall that’s a key part of downtown Portales’ redevelopment.
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32Sunday morning was spent reloading our cars and preparing for the drive home. It was a very memorable tour and we all have a deeper understanding and appreciation for the Portales/Clovis area.
Our sincere thanks to Orlando, Melody, and Ethan for their outstanding organization and going above and beyond everyone’s expectations to ensure the Llano Estacado Tour’s success! Thank you also to Robbi and Lorna for organizing the club members in Albuquerque.
To our new friends from Amarillo – we enjoyed meeting and driving with you and we hope that you had a good time with the Tin Lizzies of Albuquerque. Mark your calendars, the next big excursion will be in August – the Los Alamos tour organized by Skip Dunn to Los Alamos! We’ll see you there!
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3Click on the links below to see the other tour activities!